The film Get Out, directed by Jordan Peele, is the most biting movie on race that has had mainstream success in recent years. A film based around the premise of a black man visiting his white girlfriend’s parents for the weekend, explores many of the same topics discussed in Gender, Media, and Culture. Get Out is unwaveringly clear in its theme of denying the idea that America has progressed to the point of becoming a post-racial society. Peele employs numerous themes to support this idea, including those surrounding oppression, cultural appropriation, and very tongue-in-cheek allusions to white feminism throughout his debut film. In order to understand the many themes and ideas that exist within Get Out, it is important to understand the
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Cultural appropriation is often seen in instances where white people adopt or borrow elements of black culture, as seen with Iggy Azalea’s music or Kendell Jenner’s hairstyles. In Get Out, the idea cultural appropriation is taken very literally, to the point where white people literally want to become black. So much so, that the insidious operation quietly going on at the Armitage estate is as follows: the Armitage’s kidnap a black person who is known for having a unique skill or talent. Then, they hold an auction where a group of older white people bid on the body of the black victim, which is where things become particularly sinister. Dean Armitage, Rose’s father, is a brain surgeon who does a lobotomy and places the brain of the white buyer into the body of the black victim, leaving only 2% of the black person’s brain. This 2% is deemed to be the lobe of the brain most linked to creativity. This is depicted in multiple instances in the film. First it turns out that Walter, the gardener, has been lobotomized with the brain of Walter Armitage, who was a sprinter in the 1936 olympics and lost to African American sprinter Jessie Owens in the championship round. It becomes clear that Walter was chosen for the lobotomy because of his speed and the Armitage grandfather always lived with the idea that Black people have superior genetics, which caused him to lose his most desired race. Similarly, both Chris and Logan, a jazz musician, are both abducted for their artistic abilities that the white people yearn to
Cultural appropriation is often seen in instances where white people adopt or borrow elements of black culture, as seen with Iggy Azalea’s music or Kendell Jenner’s hairstyles. In Get Out, the idea cultural appropriation is taken very literally, to the point where white people literally want to become black. So much so, that the insidious operation quietly going on at the Armitage estate is as follows: the Armitage’s kidnap a black person who is known for having a unique skill or talent. Then, they hold an auction where a group of older white people bid on the body of the black victim, which is where things become particularly sinister. Dean Armitage, Rose’s father, is a brain surgeon who does a lobotomy and places the brain of the white buyer into the body of the black victim, leaving only 2% of the black person’s brain. This 2% is deemed to be the lobe of the brain most linked to creativity. This is depicted in multiple instances in the film. First it turns out that Walter, the gardener, has been lobotomized with the brain of Walter Armitage, who was a sprinter in the 1936 olympics and lost to African American sprinter Jessie Owens in the championship round. It becomes clear that Walter was chosen for the lobotomy because of his speed and the Armitage grandfather always lived with the idea that Black people have superior genetics, which caused him to lose his most desired race. Similarly, both Chris and Logan, a jazz musician, are both abducted for their artistic abilities that the white people yearn to